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Torture
The Main Duo
Shigeo Ijuin
The self-proclaimed "Torture Sommelier" and the main protagonist of the torture segments.
- Action Hero: Shigeo unexpectedly acts as one of these in later episodes. In Torture Sommelier vs Dagger-weilding Yakuza [sic], he was able to take down a Yakuza just by throwing a fake grenade at him and then hitting him in the neck with a pipe. Following that, he slashes both of his Achilles' tendons.
- Anti-Hero: Shigeo's means of taking down the bad guys is unconventional, to say the least, often resorting to torturing them in some of the most gruesome ways imaginable. Justified in that the people he does this to are irredeemable scumbags, to begin with.
- Berserk Button: As a result of his tragic past, where he lost his family as a result of an unknown criminal murdering them, he absolutely despises anyone that targets the homeless. It doesn't help that he became good friends with many of the homeless people, who treated him like family, after his loss.
- Big Brother Mentor: Rukawa appears to look up to Shigeo as a parental/brotherly figure of sorts, espescially in scenes where he is actively taking notes on some of his torture methods.
- Big Good: Or rather, the closest thing that this twisted series full of serial murderers, rapists, fraudsters, and other heinous criminals, or otherwise hapless victims, has to one, as his job is to wipe out such evil people.
- Book Smart: If his extensive variety of torture methods and his knowledge of the ins and outs of them show anything.
- Catchphrase: "I'm gonna make you suffer!"
- The Chessmaster: Shigeo is almost always depicted as being one step ahead of his enemies, especially in later episodes, where the victims are more difficult to find, even for the police force.
- The Cynic: The homeless past of the torture sommelier reveals that Shigeo has a cynical outlook on the world, believing that people naturally harm one another out of their own self-interest, hence why he's a torture sommelier, and why he proudly proclaims himself as "The Devil".
- Dark and Troubled Past: It is revealed in The homeless past of the torture sommelier that before becoming a torture sommelier, Shigeo was homeless for much of his life as a result of losing his family in his early 20s. This would certainly explain some of his connections with local homeless people around the area, who he claims to know well.
- Deadpan Snarker: He always comes up with witty remarks when his victims try to complain about how illegal his job is, or when they try to come up with excuses for why they committed their crimes. He will also oftentimes use the same exact tactics they've used to avoid the law on them, and even then is still relentless with his snarkiness.
- Dehumanizing Insult: Shigeo often refers to his victims as "animals", mirroring how they savagly hurt others for selfish purposes.
- The Dreaded: He is often cited by his allies as being a very scary man you don't want to cross paths with. This is even to the point where even the Yakuza are afraid of him.
- Eyes Always Shut: Shigeo's default look, until he resolves to punish criminals.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Started off as a lone street urchin after his family got murdered, and had later become the highly feared torture sommelier.
- Humans Are Bastards: His entire philosophy is a belief that humans naturally harm one another, despite society's insistance that they shouldn't, serving as part of the reason why he tortures criminals that slip through the cracks of the system.
- Insane Troll Logic: Tends to use this as a part of his punishments towards his victims, using the same exact instances of this that they used to avoid the law against them.
- Kaizo Trap: On some ocassions, he gives his victims a sense of false hope, promising to set them free after admitting to a crime or explaining themselves. He does technically keep to this word, but he doesn't mention the end clause that comes with it, a much worse form of the torture he already gave them.
- Necessarily Evil: Shigeo knows that torture isn't a good thing, but he also believes that sometimes, revenge is the only way to fulfill the lives of those that have been wronged in a significant way.
- Noble Demon: Much of what Shigeo does is illegal and cold-blooded, and he himself admits it. At the same time, he is genuinely kind and understanding to his clients, and does what he does to help them heal their wounds. Additionally, he always asks his potential victims if they regret what they did to give them the chance to be spared. He also usually tells his clients of the legal repercussions of requesting him to murder criminals, suggesting to them that there are better alternatives.
- Revenge Is Not Justice: Entirely averted. Shigeo believes that revenge is, in fact, the only way to give true justice to people that have gone through hell at the hands of blood-thirsty criminals that are continuing to harm others.
- Sadist: Shigeo quite clearly enjoys the torturing he does to the villains. It even gets to the point where he spices up the various torture techniques he adopted throughout world history.
- Torture Technician: Justified, in that Shigeo's job is to abduct cold-hearted criminals, and then given them a fitting, albeit brutal, death.
- Vigilante Man: Shigeo abducts various criminals that have committed atrocious crimes, and have gotten away with them scot-free. Afterward, he gives them their overdue punishment by killing them by gruesome means.
- Would Hit a Girl: If he is requested to torture a woman, he holds no qualms about torturing about them.
Takao Rukawa
Shigeo's loyal right-hand man who often assists him in his tortures.
- Ascended Extra: Rukawa will sometimes play a bigger role in an episode than usual, especially in later episodes. In Torture Sommelier vs Dagger-weilding Yakuza [sic] for example, he asks Kagawa what the girl he killed was like, and suggested to Shigeo that he should be killed, directly after he told him that he didn't know because of how many other women he raped and killed prior.
- Greek Chorus: Rukawa doesn't talk most of the time. When he does, it's usually when he gets really infuriated by what Shigeo's victim had said, when he is commentating on the torture that is going on, or when Shigeo asks for his opinion on something. Additionally, most of his dialogue consists of brief sentences.
- The Lancer: Rukawa is Shigeo's loyal assistant in torturing criminals.
- Nice Guy: The nicer and more sensitive of the duo, though that isn't saying much. Nonetheless, he does show bouts of kindness, such as giving a little girl a cake in the Snake Torture episode while Shigeo faux-garroted the Asshole Victim that targeted her.
Shigeo's Assistants
Emma
A professional hostess that assists Shigeo in capturing some of his victims.
- The Bait: Emma assists Shigeo in catching some of his more perverted victims by luring them by flirting with and seducing them.
- Femme Fatale: Emma uses her wits to seduce Shigeo's victims, which ultimately leads them to their deaths after he catches them.
- Ms. Fanservice: More or less guaranteed, given her position in Shigeo's group. She is integral to the plots she appears in by seducing crooks into having Shigeo capture them.
Himuro
An underground surgeon that works with Kabuto's group, and also acts as an assistent to Shigeo to prolong the torture of his victims.
- Blue Is Heroic: Himuro's most notable feature is his long blue hair.
- Meatgrinder Surgery: Himuro is a professional surgeon who helps Shigeo prolong the suffering of his victims by patching them up, or by stitching up some of their wounds to slow down or prevent bleeding.
Godai
- The Informant: One of several shown in the series, though Godai is the most recurring of them, and is actually given a name.
Shigeo's Elder
An old homeless man that had adopted Shigeo after he lost his family.
- Greater-Scope Paragon: The elder was the one who brought Shigeo into his group, and treated him like family, giving him a sense of belonging after his own family died at the hands of a cold-blooded killer.
- The Informant: Acts as one in Crucifixion, where he pinpoints the exact location of Mark Ikegami to Shigeo.
Yakuza
As a whole
The primary antagonistic force of the series, often serving as protection for other criminals, or as competition for Shigeo.
- Arch-Enemy: On Shigeo's side at least. Almost every episode that stars him involves members from various Yakuza families protecting the criminals he goes after, or competing with him over them, though there are a few exceptions, such as Kabuto. Even then, Shigeo still has to check up on Kabuto now and again.
- Villain Protagonist: On Kabuto's side. Kabuto, being a Yakuza himself, is forced to witness or partake in many of the horrendous happenings that go on in various Yakuza families for fear of getting killed off himself.
Yakuza Bosses
Mr. Sunaga
A prominent Yakuza leader, known to have protected a few infamous criminals.
- Bad Boss: Sunaga isn't above beating up or abusing his own associates, even for something as minor as interupting him.
- Big Bad: The closest thing the series as a whole has to one, being one of the most recurring villains on the channel. He is an infamous criminal that has been known to protect at least a few criminals in his career, and doubles as Shigeo's long-time arch-nemesis.
- The Casanova: Sunaga is revealed in The yakuza that specializes in torturing women to be a womanizing thug that will ocassionally interogate them in order to murder their lovers.
- Dirty Coward: Sunaga doesn't give a crap that Shigeo is abducting two of his men in Torture Sommelier goes head to head with a Yakuza, seemingly seeing them as disposable. He is more convinced to do allow him to do this when Shigeo himself threatens to kill him along with the rest of his men when Sunaga threatens him.
- The Dreaded: When he was paired with Kotoge to assist a doctor in the raping of his ex, Kotoge saw this as a sign that his boss was being serious about the objective, potentially meaning that even his gang fears him. This is highlighted even more when one of Kotoge's assistants claims that he's "glad he's on our side...".
- Evil Counterpart: Sunaga is an infamous criminal known to kill others on the street by biting people with his titanium teeth, and is known to have protected at least a few criminals during his career, mirroring how Shigeo helps his clients. Their interaction in Torture Sommelier goes head to head with a Yakuza also hints at a long-time rivalry between the two. He also appears to have a torture chamber of his own, just like Shigeo does, though for far more nefarious purposes.
- Expy: Clearly meant to be one of Count Dracula, given his tendency to target women, his titanium teeth which he uses to bite people's necks with, and how he is given an Eastern European accent in later videos.
- Green and Mean: Sunaga's most notable feature is his flowing green hair that reachs down to his shoulders.
- Man Bites Man: His preferred form of killing people is biting them in the neck with his titanium teeth, often after stabbing them.
- Meaningful Appearance: Considering how Shigeo emphasizes seeing the devil coming out of people when they commit heinous crimes, it makes sense that Sunaga perpetually looks like a demon.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Known infamously as "the Biter" due to his affinity towards biting his victims.
- Obviously Evil: Whoda thunk the guy with sharp titanium teeth and red eyes was a bad guy?
- Practically Joker: Is a mentally insane lunatic and crime lord that wears purple, has flowing green hair, and sports a Slasher Smile to boot, further accentuated by the blood of his victims smeared over his lips after he kills them.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: He specializes in the torturing of women, and actively enables them getting raped. The worst part is that he's the only perpetrator of this crime that gets away with it every time.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: In a few closeups, one can see that Sunaga has red irises.
- Serial Killer: Sunaga is an infamous criminal that is known to come out of nowhere, and bite his victims to death with his titanium teeth.
- Vampire Vords: Speaks in an Eastern European accent, fitting his vampire aesthetic.
- Yakuza: He is the infamous leader of the Ama-gumi group, often sending his associates after women he is targeting.
Mr. Kobayashi
A prominent yakuza who uses a swiss army knife.
- Devious Daggers: His weapon of choice is a swiss army knife.
- The Dreaded: Much like Sunaga, Kobayashi is one of the more highly feared Yakuza due to his unhinged behaviour.
- Perpetual Smiler: Kobayashi is always seen with a wide grin on his face, and is generally calm and collected, even as he's killing hoards of people or torturing people to death.
Mr. Togashi
A prominent yakuza that beats his victims with a sledge hammer.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Togashi's weapon of choice is a sledge hammer, which he uses to flatten his victims after shooting them several times.
Kabuto's Boss
The boss of Kotoge's gang
- Affably Evil: Subverted. Despite being a Yakuza crime lord, he is a genuinely nice guy, that is until you get on his bad side, at which point he wants you dead.
- Berserk Button: Do not EVER harm his dog or his wife, otherwise your ass is grass.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The Boss is shown to love his pet shiba very much.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Boss is never given a name, but is instead referred to as "Boss".
- Right-Hand Cat: Has a shiba inu dog he loves very much.
Kyoko
The wife of Kabuto's boss
- The Dragon: She is considered second-in-command of Kabuto's gang.
- The Heart: She is often considered the glue that keeps the gang together, preventing the others from killing one another.
- The Smart Girl: Before marrying Kabuto's boss, she was an accountant. Her experience in this field proves to be very useful in keeping the group together. Additionally, she can easily stage the hideout to make it appear nothing shady is going on when the police try to enter.
Kabuto's clan
Kabuto Kotoge
A young Yakuza, who often acts as the main protagonist of videos focusing on the Yakuza.
- Anti-Villain: He's a Yakuza, and often threatens people with death, but he's not particuarly drawn to some of the violence and death towards the innocent that occurs in many of these groups. Towards the end of his episodes, he often reminisces on how hard it is to be a Yakuza, and how there had to be a better way to handle the conflicts he faces.
- Berserk Button: While he generally is one of the more sane and logical members of the group, and generally dislikes killing the innocent, harming and/or outright killing one of his cohorts or damaging the group's turf is enough to turn him into a merciless, blood-thirsty maniac.
- Heel–Face Turn: Apparently went through this at some point before becoming one of Shigeo's informants. That doesn't mean he's entirely off of Shigeo's radar, however, as he consistently checks to see if he's behaving himself.
- The Informant: Another one the several informants Shigeo has shown in the series.
- Only Sane Man: Pretty much the only Yakuza that ISN'T shown to be a complete lunatic.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Despite being a Yakuza himself, Kotoge is notably pretty hesitant about much of the heinous stuff he must do as a Yakuza, only not rebeling out of fear that he'll be killed off himself. It's even to the point where he'll help Shigeo out on ocassion as one of his informants.
- Villain Protagonist: Sort of. He more often than not is the primary focus of episodes that focus on the going-ons of various Yakuza groups, but rarely ever gets directly involved with anything unless ordered by his boss.
- Yakuza: He is a young Yakuza who joined a family when he was just 19 years old.
Wanaka
A sword-wielding Yakuza from Kotoge's group.
- Implausible Fencing Powers: He is capable of cutting people in two with a single slash.
- Master Swordsman: He masters the katana to the point he can chop limbs and even bodies with a single slash.
Noda
A Yakuza from Kotoge's group who specializes in poking people's eyes out.
- Death of a Thousand Cuts: Despite having the least impressive weapon, Noda compensates with fast and continuous stabs, incapacitating and even killing the enemy.
- Devious Daggers: Noda uses a single ice pick to take out his victims, strangely one of the more painful ways to go.
- Eye Scream: His usual method of torture is using his icepick to gouge his victims' eyes out.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He is often the one that threatens Kotoge whenever he slips up or shows some sort of hesitence. To get the point across, in Kotoge flips after assassination attempt on his boss..., he beat him to a pulp for not noticing the would-be assassin sooner.
- Powerful Pick: Noda's preferred weapon is an icepick and is very skilled in using it as a weapon.
Kitaoka
A Yakuza from Kotoge's group, specialized in using bamboo skewers to skew people's fingers.
- Fingore: He specializes in shoving bamboo skewers under his victims' fingernails, causing them unbearable pain.
Kyougoku Clan
Kotetsu Kuga
The aspiring boss of the Kyougoku-gumi Yakuza. He gained a reputation for his unrivaled speed and reflexes and uses these powers to purge his family out of its evilest elements.
- Super-Reflexes: Kotetsu has superhuman reflexes that allow him to dodge melee attakcs.
- Super-Speed: His attacks are fast and imperceptible to the human eye. Coupled with his enhanced reflexes, this allows him to attack enemies before they do.
- Yakuza: He aspires to lead the Kyougoku-gumi family. However, Kotetsu seeks to bring his family to its former glory as defenders of the innocent.
Kaneko and Narita
A pair of Yakuza brothers from the Kyougoku-gumi gang whose preferred method of torture is pouring gasoline over their targets and burning them to death.
- Kill It with Fire: Their preferred method of execution/torture is pouring gasoline all over their target and then setting them on fire.
- Siblings in Crime: They perform their crimes together.
Amou Clan
Kudo
A knife wielding Yakuza that slices open the stomachs of his victims.
- Devious Daggers: He tortures his victims primarily by cutting their stomachs open.
Kazuki
A cross-dressing Yakuza that lures in his victims with his feminine wiles before shooting them in the head.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: So much so that when he cross-dresses, it makes the other hostesses jealous of him.
- Femme Fatale: A rare male example. His feminine personality and appearance makes it easy for him to get intel from his targets before killing them.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: "In touch" would be an understatement. More like submerged in it.
Other Torture Sommeliers
JJ
A local priest in a Filipino town, who doubles as a torture sommelier.
- Sinister Minister: Unlike Shigeo, JJ acts as the Good Shepherd of his local church whenever he isn't torturing criminals.
Darius
A Romanian torture sommelier of Wallachian heritage
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Darius' preferred means of killing his enemies is by putting them on a metallic pile through their anuses. If he's really in the mood, he'll even use special devices that also do the job, and can be heated up with the press of a button.
Sofia Taylor
An English torture sommelier and a descendent of a noble knight.
- Action Girl: Sofia is a proficient sword wielder, and like Shigeo captures her victims through surprise attacks. She also shows that she can easily wield a war hammer in her debut episode.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: One of Sofia's preferred weapons is a giant warhammer, which she uses to crush the kneecaps of his victims.
- Feminist Fantasy: Basically what stories that involve her are like. Sofia especially gets pissed off at her victims if they hurt other women, or treat them as anything less than human.
- Glasgow Smile: Sofia appears to occasionally give her victims these as she is torturing them, cutting the corners of their mouths.
Other
Unknown Killer
The unidentified killer that was responsible for the deaths of Shigeo's family.
- The Ghost: For the time being, the killer is only briefly mentioned as being responsible for the deaths of Shigeo's family.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Perhaps of the entire Torture series, seeing how they're apparently the entire reason why Shigeo became a torture sommelier in the first place. This can also explain his cynical outlook on the world, as the episode they are first mentioned in starts off with Shigeo discussing how cruel people can be, taking down others to feel good about themselves, and how the devil within them comes out, essentially referring to both himself and the criminals he kills.
- The Nameless: The killer is never given a name when they are first mentioned. At most, Shigeo claims that someone killed his family, which caused him to go homeless.
Punishment
Jiro Kurebayashi
A former high school delinquent who struggles to find a job due to his past. His unrivaled strength and red hair made him known by the nickname of "Red Demon".
- Book Dumb: Being a high school delinquent, he has bad grades at school and failed his assignments.
- Face of a Thug: Despite his scary-looking face, he is a kindhearted person who fights for justice.
- Japanese Delinquents: He was a notorious delinquent in high school, but he always targeted scumbags and bullies back then as he does now.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His notorious unrivaled strength and hair turning red before beating bullies and criminals earned him the "Red Demon" moniker in his high school delinquent days, much to his annoyance.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He beats criminals and all sorts of scumbags in the most brutal fashion. However, he knows this also lands him in trouble with the law.
Dream Hunter
Joji Kito
- Determinator: He is determined to travel all around the world to eat the world's strangest dishes, no matter the place or how they're done. Not even the bad taste or the diseases he may contract from said foods will stop him.
- Foreign Queasine: Even when the dishes he's going to eat in his travels look and/or taste gross, he won't let that deter him from eating it.
Unfortunate Life
Hirofumi Satake
- Cosmic Plaything: He's subjected to all sorts of life-threatening situations that only someone as lucky as him could even survive, let alone heal.
- Iron Butt Monkey: He always ends up in situations no normal human could (or should) survive. However, he almost always comes out alive, but he still needs medical attention to do so.
